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The House of Pericles
An older house, the house of Pericles is based in Hellas, but has its start in Greater Syria (as in Phoenicia). The house of Pericles is a house of politicians, like the house of Darius. Famed for it's name giver, Pericles, the house says it's actual founder is Pelops (Ahab?) for whom the land where they came from was named. The founding myth goes like this: Pelops' father was Tantalus, king at Mount Sipylus in Anatolia. Wanting to make an offering to the Olympians, Tantalus cut Pelops into pieces and made his flesh into a stew, then served it to the gods. Demeter, deep in grief after the abduction of her daughter Persephone by Hades, absentmindedly accepted the offering and ate the left shoulder. The other gods sensed the plot, however, and held off from eating of the boy's body. Pelops was ritually reassembled and brought back to life, his shoulder replaced with one of ivory made for him by Hephaestus. Pindar mentioned this tradition in his First Olympian Ode, only to reject it as a malicious invention: his patron claimed descent from Tantalus. After Pelops' resurrection, Poseidon took him to Olympus, and made the youth apprentice, teaching him also to drive the divine chariot. Later, Zeus threw Pelops out of Olympus, angry that his father, Tantalus, had stolen the food of the gods, given it to his subjects, and revealed the secrets of the gods. Having grown to manhood, Pelops wanted to marry Hippodamia. King Oenomaus, her father, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed twelve suitors of Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race and affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace. Pausanias was shown what was purported to be the last standing column in the late second century CE. Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by untamed winged horses to appear. Two episodes involving charioteers were added into the plain account of the heroic chariot race. In the first related by Theopompus, having received the horses, Pelops hastens to Pisa to defeat Oenomaus. On the way, his charioteer Cillus (also named Sphaerus) dies and stands in a dream over Pelops, who was highly distressed about him, to make requests for a funeral. Pelops complies by burying his ashes magnificently, and raises a mound to erect a temple dedicated to Apollo which he names Apollo Cillaeus and he founds a city besides the mound and the temple which he also names Cilla after his charioteer and friend. Both the temple and the city are mentioned in the first book of Homer's Iliad and suggestions regarding their exact location have been made. Furthermore, Cillus, even after his death, appears to have helped Pelops' cause in order for him to win the race. In the second, Pelops, still unsure of himself (or alternatively, Hippodamia herself) and of the winged horses and chariot of divine provenance he had secured, convinced Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, to help him win. Pelops or Hippodamia herself convinced Myrtilus by promising him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the first night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting together Oenomaus' chariot, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race started, and went on for a long time. But just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Myrtilus survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses. Pelops then killed Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea) after the latter attempted to rape Hippodamia. Walter Burkert notes that though the story of Hippodamia's abduction figures in the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and on the chest of Cypselus (c. 570 BCE) that was conserved at Olympia, and though preparations for the chariot-race figured in the east pediment of the great temple of Zeus at Olympia, the myth of the chariot race only became important at Olympia with the introduction of chariot racing in the twenty-fifth Olympiad (680 BCE). G. Devereux connected the abduction of Hippodamia with animal husbandry taboos of Elis, and the influence of Elis at Olympia that grew in the seventh century. As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops for his ultimate betrayal. This was one of the sources of the curse that destroyed his family: two of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes, killed a third, Chrysippus, who was his favorite son and was meant to inherit the kingdom; Atreus and Thyestes were banished by him together with Hippodamia, their mother, who then hanged herself; each successive generation of descendants suffered greatly by atrocious crimes and compounded the curse by committing more crimes, as the curse weighed upon Pelops' children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren including Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Menelaus, and finally Orestes, who was acquitted by a court of law convened by the gods Athena and Apollo. Although commonly referred to as "the curse of the Atreides", the circle of atrocious events began two generations before Atreus and continued for two generations after him, before being formally absolved by the Furies in court. Eventually, the House of Atreus became the House of Pericles when the family moved out of Mycenae and headed towards a city that would accept them. Pericles, for whom the house is named for, is a tragic aristocrat and politician who brought his city to greatness but also brought it to shame. Despite this, the House of Atreus changed its name to the House of Pericles after Pericles' outstanding leadership. Pericles IV (LN hm Aristocrat 6/Fighter 3): A washed up politician, he's taken up a Ring of Mass Charm ''in order to gain control of politics in Phaeselis. However, it bungled him up as his brother (Teleamon) actually controls the house. Pericles IV is the elder. 'Teleamon I Pericles (CG hm Fighter 7/Aristocrat 3):' is the current leader of the house. Like his ancestor before him, he has taken a prostitute as a lover and companion. Teleamon is a capable warrior and a savvy politician. He wants to make the city great amongst the nations. The influx of many adventurers in the city, however, is giving him an opportunity to make the City great. 'Sympasia (N teifling f commoner 4):' is Teleamon's current companion and lover. A prostitute of no small reputation, Teleamon took her after he dumped his wife, Cleopatra. Sympasia is known for her certain excesses in wine and food, and enjoys the high life Teleamon can afford her as a politician and an aristocrat. 'Cleopatra of Teleamon Pericles (LG hf aristocrat 5):''' is Teleamon's long suffering wife. She gave the aristocrat two daughters before Sympasia caught his eye. She is quietly raising her daughters though. One of her daughters, however, wants revenge against Sympasia stealing away her father. Category:Aristocratic Families Category:Organizations Category:Phaeselis